If Puppy Ate a Penny: What Do You Do? (+8 Prevention Tips)

Puppies like babies tend to explore the world with their mouths.

Some puppies take this a step further and swallow small objects like coins, and your puppy could eat a penny.

Is It a Problem If a Puppy Swallows a Penny?

While in theory, what goes down should come out the other end, that is not always the case.

Plus, pennies pose a particular risk to puppies of zinc poisoning.

Zinc poisoning can be fatal. Newer pennies are mostly zinc and are super dangerous if ingested by your puppy.

Signs of Zinc Poisoning

Your puppy can’t tell you that it ate a penny. A penny is such a small coin you may not notice one is missing.

If you don’t catch your puppy swallowing the penny, what are the signs of zinc poisoning?

The main signs are:

• Stomach pain and headaches – your puppy may whine ad show distress if it is in pain or may seem lethargic and uninterested in life.
• Vomiting and diarrhea – always worrying symptoms in a puppy.
• Not peeing.
• Yellowing eyes – jaundice.
• Pale gums.
• Orange-colored poop.
• Dark reddish-brown pee.
• Seizures – later stages of zinc poisoning.

If you notice one or more of these symptoms, take your pup to the vet.

If your puppy may have swallowed a penny, mention this as a potential cause. Your vet can scan to see if there is a coin in the stomach.

Are Some Puppies More Prone to Eating Strange Objects?

All puppies use their mouths to investigate what may or may not be edible.

Most puppies outgrow this behavior, but some grow into adult dogs with a condition known as pica.

Pica is the term covering craving and eating non-food items, and people can suffer from it as well as dogs. Pica often develops in pregnant women, and doctors speculate it may be an unconscious need for a missing nutrient.

Labrador retrievers are breeds most likely to develop pica, but other dog breeds can develop the condition. Causes range from nutritional deficiency to boredom and separation anxiety.

What is the Treatment?

If you can get the puppy to the vet before zinc poisoning develops, the vet can extract the penny with surgery.

Once zinc toxicity develops, the treatment can be extensive, involving blood transfusions and intensive care.

The best treatment is to prevent your puppy from swallowing the penny or other small objects. You need to puppy-proof your home like new parents baby-proof their home to avoid unpleasant accidents.

If you cannot supervise your puppy, use a crate or a playpen to give your puppy a hazard-free zone.

Surely the Coin Will Pass Through Your Pup?

In theory, a small coin will pass through the digestive tract and out the other end in as little as ten hours. But in practice, there is the risk of zinc poisoning and the hard object creating a blockage inside your puppy.

Don’t be tempted to wait and see; get your puppy to a vet.

Puppies are small, and their digestion system needs to pass soft bowel movements – coins and small pennies don’t fit the standard fare.

Your vet can take an x-ray to assess if it is likely that nature can take its course or if it is better to extract the coin.

Is Swallowing a Penny an Actual Risk for Your Puppy?

Sadly, there are no official injury statistics compiled for vets, so there is only anecdotal evidence from vets and publicity about puppies with issues.

Typically, most busy vet practices report a case of dealing with foreign objects in a puppy or dog’s stomach every month.

Vigilance and removing temptation are the best way to ensure that your puppy doesn’t suffer the consequences of snaffling a penny as a snack.

But if you suspect your pup has swallowed a penny, consult a vet.

How to Reduce the Risk of Your Puppy Swallowing a Penny?

Your puppy will only swallow a penny it comes across while exploring your home.

Raising all small, potentially hazardous objects above the height your puppy can access will reduce the possibility of an accident.

During playtime, puppies need supervision, so you can intervene if you spot a potential incident. When you can’t supervise your puppy, ensure they are in a safe zone – a crate, playpen, or closed room clear of puppy hazards.

Only offer your puppy appropriate toys to play with, don’t encourage your puppy to look inside a handbag or purse for treats.

Always close your bag, briefcase, and purse, so objects like coins, batteries, and other potentially unsuitable playthings are not available.

Other Unsafe Objects – What Can You Do?

It is not only access to pennies that are problematic for your pup’s safety. Your puppy doesn’t have hands, and it explores the world through its mouth.

Plus, when your puppy is teething, it chews everything and may ingest small pieces of the chewed object.

The most common object swallowed by pups is socks, but anything is a potential target, from rocks to string.

Practical First Aid

If you notice that the puppy has swallowed something within two hours, you can try to induce vomiting.

But not if it is a sharp object that will do more harm coming up, or a toxic thing like pills, batteries, or coins, and in that case, you need to go to a vet for action.

Before inducing vomiting, contact your vet to talk about the process. Your vet will talk about the method but will probably prefer to control the process in the surgery if this is the first time your pup has swallowed a foreign object.

After two to three hours, the object will be in the intestines, and vomiting won’t help.

Soft items like underwear, socks, and small rubber parts of a toy should pass through, but you have the messy job of checking the poop to make sure the object has exited your pup’s body.

If it hasn’t passed through by the next day, you need to see a vet as an intestinal blockage is serious if not treated promptly.

Don’t wait and see if your pup shows signs of distress.

Prevention is Better than Cure (8 Tips)

The best way to avoid a potentially fatal swallowing incident is to puppy-proof your home.

1. Restrict access to unsafe areas until the puppy matures.
2. Pick up, move or protect any potential chewable objects – electrical wires, kids toys, slippers, and houseplants, amongst others.
3. If your puppy chews everything, crate, or playpen when you can’t supervise.
4. Provide appropriate toys – avoid edible chews while young unless recommended by a vet.
5. Provide a range of toys and rotate them to prevent boredom.
6. Swap an unsuitable chewing object for an alternative toy or treat.
7. Provide your pup with teething toys – frozen ones provide cool relief for hot gums.
8. Exercise your puppy – so it is tired when left unsupervised; sleeping pups don’t chew.

Most puppies outgrow their need to chew and swallow inappropriate items. Like human babies, this need to investigate everything by potentially eating it is a passing phase.

Unlike human babies, your pup doesn’t have hands, and you don’t need to worry about it putting small objects in its nose or ears.

Are Some Breeds More Likely to Swallow Pennies and Other Items?

The breeds most likely to swallow foreign objects include:

• Terriers
• Collies
• Spaniels

These breeds have a high degree of curiosity about the world and tend to eat first and think later.

Conclusion

Puppies can and do swallow pennies and other objects.

The significant risks to your pup’s health from swallowed objects are:

• Damage from piercing with sharp objects.
• Poisoning from zinc or copper.
• Burning from acids contained in batteries.
• Blockage from objects getting stuck inside.

If your puppy swallows something it shouldn’t, take it to a vet because immediate action may save you an enormous vet bill and save your puppy’s life.